Lost With You
by WhatATragicComedy
Summary: SG1 are on a routine mission on an alien planet when it goes terribly wrong.  SJ  Cussing and sexual content in some chapters. Would like reviews but please keep in mind this is only my second attempt EVER at writing. Thanks. Complete story now up.
1. Bad Days

_I don't claim to own or be associated with the show or the production or anything. Just wanted to write this._

Chapter 1-Bad Days

Today had not been a good day. First, he had been startled from a semi-deep sleep by an offworld activation warning and proceeded to fall out of his bunk. Normally, he wouldn't have been so jumpy but he had been having a bizarre nightmare about Dr. Fraiser chasing him down with an enormous needle. He shuddered thinking about it. Or, maybe that was from the cold. Because now, Jack was walking, with a limp he had claimed was the result of the old knee acting up but in reality had happened when he had fallen trying to put BDU's on this morning, in the pouring rain, back towards the stargate.

Everyone was quiet. Tired, cold, annoyed, and quiet. They had spent the day in a village about 3 miles from the gate. It had been an uneventful visit. The people lived simply, knew nothing of the Gou'o'uld, and had nothing even Sam and Jonas could get excited about. So they had left in the late afternoon and less than a quarter of the way to the gate, the downpour had begun.

Even though they'd been walking for upwards of 2 1/2 miles, Jack found himself getting chills. He shook as another went through him and tried to pass it off as him adjusting the pack on his back. Oddly enough, he still felt himself shaking slightly after it was over. At first, he ignored it, but no, he definitely still felt movement. He stopped and realized that it was the ground that was moving. He turned to the rest of his team to find they had much the same reaction as himself. "We have tremors, people. Let's speed it up a little, shall we?"

They quickened their pace and with each step, the tremors seemed to worsen. On reaching the gate, Jack yelled at Carter to dial home. He watched as she had to physically hold the DHD while she pressed the buttons. The wormhole activated; Teal'c and Jonas wasting no time in going through. "Alright, Carter, let's move it." She nodded and started to run up the steps alongside him. At that moment, the earthquake let loose its fury, knocking them both off their feet. The stargate started to shake and to their complete horror, the ground split right at the base. The stargate wobbled, finally falling in the opposite direction. Instinctively, Jack threw himself over Carter before its impact. After a few moments, the earthquake seemed to stop. That only encouraged the sky above to increase the rain that was still falling on them.

Slowly, Jack got up and helped Carter to her feet. They both looked, speechless, at the sight before them. The stargate lay on the ground, wormhole deactivated, partially sinking into the mud. What the hell else can go wrong today??? Judging by Carter's face, Jack wasn't completely sure if he had said that out loud or not.

"Sir, we still might be able to establish a wormhole with the DHD if the power hasn't been disconnected from the stargate."

With a wave of his hand, water flying off his fingertips, he motioned Carter to try it. He watched, holding his breath, as she went to press the red button. She held her hand there, seemingly afraid of what the outcome might be. Pushing down ...nothing happened. Damn't. He let out a ragged breath. This was definitely not a good day.

"I don't understand, Sir. Maybe it's just a connection problem. If I could just..."

"Carter!"

"Yes, sir?!"

"You aren't gonna be able to do a damned thing in this rain."

He looked over to the tree line.

"We'll set up camp over there for now and worry about the gate once this stops."

After setting up an overhead tarp, they worked to set up a tent as it didn't look like the rain was going to let up anytime soon.

Jack was trying hard to not think about what would happen if Carter couldn't get the gate working again. Then, he smirked to himself. Carter could fix anything. Of course she could fix it. It's just, he'd already been stuck on a planet, on two different occasions, and well that was getting a little old.

"Sir," Carter said, breaking the Colonel from his thoughts, "we need to get out of these clothes."

Jack's immediate thoughts on hearing those words were obvious. Carter wasn't looking at him when she said it. Instead, she was searching through her pack. It was then that Jack again realized that they were both soaked to the bone.

Sam had already removed her jacket. It hadn't done much good in protecting her from the rain. Her black shirt was dripping wet and clung to every curve. Her pants hung low, weighed down by the water they had soaked up, showing off the slightest hint of midriff.

"Sir?" Carter said, turning to face him again.

She held up a wad of dry clothing. Somehow they had escaped the onslaught of the rain in her pack.

Hearing her voice, he returned to reality. Grabbing his own pack, he pulled out his extra set of clothes. His had not been as fortunate as Carter's. The only thing that had managed to remain dry were his pants and they were a little damp. Looking up, Carter was in the same predicament, only it appeared her pants were the only thing that hadn't remained dry.

Jack smiled. "Well, together, we have one complete uniform."

Carter set her pants on the top of the tent to dry. Looking at the clothes the colonel held, she agreed, "Yes, sir, it appears as though."

Jack looked around and realized that they didn't exactly have any privacy with which they could change.

"Carter, you go in the tent to change. I'll, um, change out here."

Carter nodded. She looked tired. He could tell she was trying to figure out the stargate problem even now.

Once Carter had zipped up the tent, Jack tried to figure out how he was going to do this. He set the wet clothes from his extra set with Carter's on the top of the tent. Removing his shirt, he threw that on the tent too. Then, he heard a loud "Umph" from followed by a light thud.

He smiled. "Ya alright in there, Carter?"

Having to yell to be heard over the still pouring rain, she shouted, "Yes, sir, I just slipped, that's all."

Despite the situation, Jack chuckled to himself.

Scrunching his face, Jack tried to figure out how he planned to take off his boots, stand in/on them to avoid muddy feet, and take off his pants, while avoiding falling like he had that morning, all the while holding his dry pair in his mouth. He was sure glad Carter couldn't see him right now.

After much effort, and two near falling instances, Jack managed to get into his dry pants.

"Carter, you all done in there?"

"Yes, sir. You can come in whenever you're ready."

Climbing inside, he saw Sam was already in her sleeping bag. Wait, what was he doing calling her Sam? Carter, Carter was in her sleeping bag. Better.

Her eyes widened ever so slightly as he ducked into the tent. For a second, he thought that she was looking at something behind him and stopped. Then, he saw that she was looking at his bare chest.

As if realizing she'd been caught, she looked away. Jack thought of several wise cracks he could use right about now, but decided he probably shouldn't.

(Sam's POV)

Today had been a BAD day. Make that a bad couple of days. She'd been trying to figure out how the device they had retrieved from P3X-739 worked nonstop since they'd returned. Yesterday, she thought she'd had a breakthrough to only be let down...again. This morning, she'd woken up, hearing the unscheduled offworld activation warning going off. She rushed off to see what was going on, barely noticing the odd looks she got along the way. Then, she ran smack into Teal'c, falling to the ground in the process, him not even wobbling. Offering his assistance and apologies, he helped her to her feet.

Raising an eyebrow, Teal'c said, "Major Carter, are you aware that there appear to be several small square shapes on your face?"

Sam's hand shot up to the right side of her face, suddenly aware that she had woken up on her keyboard.

Finally reaching the control room, Sam almost ran into a limping Colonel O'Neill. On seeing her, his face scrunched up in confusion.

Before he could say a word, she raised her hand and with a menacing glare said, "Don't ask!"

A few hours and mishaps later, Sam found herself walking in the pouring rain to the gate, from a village that while friendly was scientifically insignificant. The Colonel had been in a fowl mood all day, adding nothing pleasant to her own. And Jonas, the man just didn't know how to be unhappy. Here they were, having walked 2 1/2 miles in the rain, and he was still smirking to himself about something. The idea of shooting him with her P-90 vaguely crossed her mind.

As if she needed another thing to go wrong today, she then proceeded to trip over a rock, barely catching herself as she flew forward. She started shaking as she tried to steady herself. Wait a second, that wasn't her.

Looking up at the others in front of her, Sam heard the colonel tell them to speed things up. Tremors! Peachy. Just peachy.

By the time they reached the gate, Sam could barely see anything through the sheets of rain falling and the ground was shaking so much she had to grab hold of the DHD to dial out.

Seeing Teal'c and Jonas run through the gate, Sam started up the steps herself when the ground seemed to move right out from underneath her, knocking her flat on her back. For a moment, the breath was knocked out of her and rain fell hard on her face. She sat up, seeing the stargate wobble and lean away from where she was lying.

Pushed back down, Sam heard the gate ripping from its base and hit the ground. It wasn't until the colonel offered her his hand that she realized that he had even been on top of her, protecting her from any debris. A million thoughts raced through her mind as she saw the stargate lying inactive on the ground.

"What the hell else can go wrong today???" The colonel's outburst had shocked Sam out of her thoughts.

"Sir, we still might be able to establish a wormhole with the DHD if the power hasn't been disconnected from the stargate."

He motioned her to do it. Punching in the symbols, she couldn't even tell whether or not they were lighting up, the rain was coming down so hard. She paused, holding in her breath, before she punched the red button. She saw the colonel looking at her, and with a heavy sigh, pressed it down.

Nothing. Not a thing happened. What could be the problem? It could simply be that the power has been disconnected somehow. She could fix that if she could just...

"Carter!"

"Yes, sir?!"

"You aren't gonna be able to do a damned thing in this rain."

Had she been talking out loud? She must have been.

"We'll set up camp over there for now and worry about the gate once this stops."

The Colonel was pointing to the trees just ahead. Sam wanted to object, but taking another look at the gate, knew he was right. If she was really going to be able to do anything, it would be a lot easier if it wasn't raining while she was doing it.

The colonel and herself had set up a tarp above their tent for the night and now she realized just how cold and sopping wet she was. Her jacket had done absolutely no good in keeping her dry so she ripped it off to get the weight off of her. Grabbing her pack, she looked through it for her extra set of BDU's, mentioning to the colonel that he needed to do the same.

Finally finding what she was looking for and realizing that the colonel hadn't said anything, she turned towards him.

"Sir?"

She briefly thought that he may have been looking at her stomach when he grabbed his pack and started looking through it. Her spare shirt and panties were slightly damp but she couldn't say the same for her pants. They were pretty soaked through.

"Well, together, we have one complete uniform."

Sam set her pants on the top of the tent to dry; confused as to what the colonel meant when she looked at his clothes. In one hand he was holding a wet t-shirt; in the other, dry pants.

"Yes, sir, it appears as though."

Sam was just thinking about how they were going to go about changing when the colonel seemed to read her mind.

"Carter, you go in the tent to change. I'll, um, change out here."

She nodded. She was worried about getting home. She wished that this stupid rain would just hold up so she could go look at the damage and hopefully figure it out. She hated not knowing.

Zipping up the tent, she tore off the wet clothes. Realizing she didn't have anything to dry herself off with and she was still dripping wet, Sam reluctantly started to put her dry clothes on anyway. While trying to stay ducked down in the tent and pull up a dry pair of panties on wet skin, she managed to slip and fell flat on her bare bum.

"Ya alright in there, Carter?"

She sighed. Yelling over the rain, she told him she had slipped. She just knew he was laughing at her even though she couldn't hear him. Yep, this had turned out to be one great day.

Crawling into her sleeping bag, Sam realized how much the day had exhausted her. Still, she got knots in her stomach, turning the ideas about how to fix the stargate over and over in her head.

"Carter, you all done in there?"

"Yes, sir. You can come in whenever you're ready."

He unzipped the tent and on bending down, Sam saw that he had no shirt on. Seeing his bare chest shocked her. She didn't exactly know why. It was silly. She's seen him without a shirt on before. Oh crap. He hesitated, looking at her. Feeling the color coming to her cheeks, she turned her head, hoping he'd quit looking at her. Stupid, stupid Carter. That's just great. Looking at your CO's chest. Lovely. And then she saw the slightest little smirk on his lips. She glared at him, though she was sure he didn't see it, as he was trying to get in his sleeping bag. He thought it was funny. And despite herself and this horrible day, she found herself fighting back a smirk of her own.


	2. Blue Panties

Chapter 2-Blue Panties

They'd been laying in the tent for what Sam guestimated was two hours. Neither of them had said anything. The rain was so loud falling on the tarp above them that they didn't feel like expending the energy to yell over it.

Sam was still awake, thinking of different ways to work on the stargate. Even though she was buried in her sleeping bag, her teeth began to chatter. She was really really cold.

Turning towards the colonel, she could tell he was asleep. It wasn't a deep easy sleep though. That she could tell by his furrowed brows and the way he grabbed to pull his sleeping bag right up to his nose. He was cold too.

Though she thought better of it for a moment, Sam was just too cold.

"Sir?"

His eyes shot open, ready to attention. Focusing on her face and seeing that she wasn't in any danger, he relaxed and closed his eyes again.

"What is it, Carter?"

"Sir, I swear I'm not trying to get fresh with you or anything, but I'm really cold..."

He opened his eyes again and in a way that only Jack O'Neill could, taunted her. Knowing he was going to make her finish that sentence before he was going to move a muscle, she finished, "and I could really use the extra body heat."

Surprisingly, he didn't say a word but quickly unzipped his sleeping bag. It was then that Sam remembered she was wearing just a pair of bright blue panties and a regulation black shirt that mind you, did not cover said panties.

The Colonel stood up and looked at her. She could practically hear him telling her to "Move. Now!" without him saying a word.

"Sir?"

"Carter, it's damn cold. Now we aren't gonna be able to fit in one sleeping bag so we're gonna have to spread one out under and one over us. So I suggest you hurry up."

"Yes, sir." Sam started to unzip her sleeping bag. "I just thought I should give you some kind of warning that I'm not wearing any pants." And with that, she opened her sleeping bag.

The Colonel had previously been holding his sleeping bag, waiting to spread it out, but had unceremoniously dropped it on seeing Carter's panties followed by her long, long legs. Not until she had spread out her sleeping bag and laid down again did the Colonel seem to regroup, as it were.

Quickly lying down, he threw his sleeping bag over both of them. Both chattering from the cold, they entangled themselves in each other.

'How had he managed to stay this warm!' she thought to herself.

He was always like that though. On missions where they had shared a tent before, she was always thankful when it was a cold planet. He seemed to radiate heat. And Sam was never more thankful for that than now.

Jack, on the other hand, felt exactly how cold she was through her shirt. Clearing his throat, he tried to find something to distract him from the sensation. So, he started rubbing her arm, trying to warm her up. It wasn't exactly helping his thoughts though.

Then she touched him with those feet. They were like icebergs! She really was cold. He tried to hold back a chuckle as she pulled him still closer to herself. He was pretty sure that he couldn't take a deep breath right now if he wanted to.

Finally, Sam started to feel warm again. Sighing, she faintly smiled. The colonel's arms were wrapped all around her. She had never quite realized how muscular they were until just then.

"Carter?"

Blushing, Sam felt that somehow the colonel was reading her thoughts.

Smirking as he said it, Jack told her, "Blue's a good color for you."

Laughing, she playfully hit him and shook her head.


	3. The Boats Are Coming

Chapter 3-The Boats Are Coming

Sam wasn't sure when she'd fallen asleep, but she awoke to the dire urgency of her bladder. The rain had thankfully stopped but it had done its magic on her stomach.

The colonel and herself were still fully entwined. It didn't appear as if they had moved all night.

Sam wasn't sure how she was going to be able to move without waking him up but she had to do it, and fast. Looking up at the Colonel's face as she tried to slide her arm out from under his own, he grimaced and using the arm he had over her waist, pulled her firmly back against him.

'Well, that didn't work,' she thought to herself. She wondered if she could wait until he woke up. Nope, that was a definite no. The only thing left to do was wake him up.

"Colonel," she whispered.

Absolutely no reaction. She tried again. Nothing. Wow, she'd never seen him sleep so deep before.

"Jack. Jack! Wake up, Jack!"

Suddenly she was reminding of the water scene in Titanic and was very tempted to shout, "The boats are coming, Jack." The thought made her giggle. Why had she been whispering anyway?

"No giggling," mumbled a husky voice.

"You were a..." and with a jerk of her head to look at his face, she hit him square in the chin. "...wake. Ow."

"Well, I am now."

"Sorry, sir."

He opened his eyes and looked down at her skeptically.

"What is it, Carter?"

She wondered how she could put this delicately.

"Sir, I need to, um,..."

He lifted the blanket letting in a rush of cold air. Getting a quick shiver, she hurried to put on her boots and opened the tent. It was at this moment that Jack realized his little fantasy about Carter in a bikini might just have been superceded. Yeah, the tight shirt and panties paired with boots was definitely a hot look for her.

His stomach growling, Jack decided he should probably get up. He had heard Carter walking, nay, running on the south side of the tent so he was fairly certain he could get out without any awkward situations.

After fulfilling his own call to nature, Jack pulled out a starter log from his pack and tried to get a fire going. Their clothes were still sopping wet and while the idea of Carter prancing around all day in her underwear was a nice thought, he didn't think she'd appreciate it much.

After he got the fire started, Jack sat back in the tent and wrapped himself in his sleeping bag. Deciding to see what MRE's he had in his pack, he found what he assumed was a granola bar and supposed that would have to do.

Sam was now on her way back to camp. Now that her bladder was empty, her clothing or lack there of came to her attention. She was very glad that the closest village was 3 miles away.

Reaching the camp, she could see that the Colonel had started a fire. The Colonel on the other hand, she could not see.

"Sir?"

"Major?"

Good. It sounded like he was in the tent.

"Do you think that maybe you could close your eyes for a minute?"

He smirked. "Sure, Major. Sure."

She peaked around the tent to make sure he was actually closing his eyes. He had taken one of the sleeping bags and put their wet clothes on it closer to the fire. They appeared to still be very wet. Lovely. Sam guessed that the only thing she could do was sit next to the colonel and share the blanket.

The opening to the tent was small and they would be pretty crammed in the opening. Trying to maneuver her way to sit down, Sam put her hand on his knee. His eyebrows shot up though he did keep his eyes closed.

Sam smiled. "Don't worry, sir. Just trying to get in here without falling on you."

"Oh, I wasn't worried, Carter. Curious, maybe, but not worried."

She rolled her eyes as she finally sat down and taking part of the sleeping bag, wrapped it around herself. Her right arm was practically half in the colonel's lap they were so close together.

"Can I open my eyes now, Carter?"

"Oh, yes. Sorry, sir."

After fidgeting for some breakfast herself, they decided that once the clothes dried, they would head over to the stargate to see what needed to be done.


	4. No Doubts

Chapter 4-No Doubts

"Why. Aren't. You. Working????" Sam yelled as she kicked the stargate. "You stupid piece of naquadah crap!!!"

"Ahem."

Great. The colonel was behind her and had probably seen all of her little outburst.

"Things not going the way you'd like?"

She turned around and giving her scariest look, walked past him back to the DHD.

Seeing after several minutes that the colonel was still staring at her, Sam sighed and put her head in her hands.

"You okay, Carter?"

"Fine, sir. I just am having problems figuring out what's wrong. Everything seems to be in order but it's like the power is just...dead."

"Well, you can mess with it again tomorrow."

Looking in the sky and clearly seeing daylight, Sam questioned the colonel.

"Sir?"

"Listen, Carter. We've been here for three days and we are officially out of MRE's. We need to head to the village. Hopefully, they'll let us settle in there until we can get this figured out."

Sam did not want to go to the village. That would mean defeat. She was not ready to give up working on figuring this out yet.

"You can go ahead, sir. I'd like to stay here and work on this."

"That was an order, Major."

Knowing that he couldn't see her face from where he was standing, Sam let the fury that she felt be exposed on her features. Standing to attention, she replied, "Yes, sir!" without even looking in his direction.

Back at camp, she saw that he had already packed everything up. That just annoyed her more. He'd already planned this. Grabbing her pack, she headed towards the village.

Jack knew she was mad. It was ridiculous but he knew she was mad nonetheless. She had absolutely no reason to have her panties in such a wad. He wasn't giving up. He was being logical. Still, after walking behind her for quite some time, he decided he had best break the silence.

"You know, you can come back tomorrow."

Sam rolled her eyes. Yeah, after walking 3 miles.

"Yes, sir."

Obstinate woman. He smiled as he thought it. To this day, Jack had no idea why he found that so attractive in her.

"And I'm not giving up, Carter." He walked to stand beside her. "I know you'll figure it out."

Of course she'd figure it out. And she could do it alot sooner if she didn't have to walk 3 miles everyday to reach the dang thing.

They finally reached the village as night was approaching. Orlu, a man they had previously met, saw them immediately and came up to them.

"Hello, Colonel, Major. I must say, we weren't expecting to see you again."

"Yeah, well, we kinda hit a snag. We were hoping you folks might have a place we could stay or maybe spare some food."

Seeing the slightly confused expression on his face, Sam continued, "The stargate has had a malfunction and so far, we've been unsuccessful in fixing it."

Understanding, Orlu nodded. He turned, motioning for them to follow him through the village.It was then that Jack noticed the damage to some of the homes.

"Looks like we weren't the only ones affected by the earthquake."

Orlu nodded again. "They happen ever so often but we have not had one quite like that in a very long time."

Orlu led them to a small little cottage. Opening the door, he showed them in. On the right wall was a bed with a fireplace beside it. And on the far wall, towards the right were shutters, and a door on the opposite side.

"This home was once my wife's brother's. He has since died. His home has not been lived in for some time so please excuse the dust. You are welcome to use it as long as it is needed."

It was a small and confined room. Yet, judging by many of the homes that they passed, all the homes were much this way. They were a simple people and Jack thought, this was much better than the tent.

"Thank you. Thank you very much."

With that, Orlu saw himself out.

Sam set her things down in a corner and went to see what was on the other side of door number two. She found a large tub taking up most of the next room. A black faucet pump was over the tub at one end and a bucket was on the floor at the other. Moving forward, she could see where the water could be emptied from the tub into the bucket. The only other thing in the room was an inlet in the wall which held a shelf. On it were a pitcher and a large bowl. Straight in front of her was another door. Opening it, she was outside again and she could vaguely see what she could only imagine was an outhouse. Great. She loved those.

"Nice." Jack was now standing right behind her. "That will be fun."

Letting out a small half laugh, half sigh, Sam turned to go back inside.


	5. Hot Chocolate But Not

Chapter 5-Hot Chocolate But Not

They hadn't talked much the rest of the night. Sam wasn't furious like she had been at first though she was still annoyed. Not necessarily at the colonel, just the situation.

Sam woke just as light was beginning to filter through the shudders. She smiled as she realized that at some point in the night, Jack had moved his feet to where they were entwined with hers.

Getting up, she made her way to the bathroom. Even though she definitely had warranted one, Sam knew that most likely the water would be cold and so last night had forgone the pleasure of taking a bath. Now the strong desire to be clean was overpowering her fear of a cold bath. The pump looked pretty average so she started and after a while, water did pump into the tub. To her surprise it was warm, hot almost. Sam was very curious as to how this simple people had managed to have hot water pumped into their homes. For the moment, she was simply going to relish taking a nice warm bath.

Eventually, Sam heard Jack, er, the Colonel, begin to stir. Where had that come from? She never called him Jack. She chastised herself reaching to get out of the tub when she heard a knock on what sounded like the front door.

Sam heard the Colonel grumbling under his breath and giggled to herself. Surprisingly for such a small house, she couldn't hear what was said but merely could hear the voices. Soon enough, the Colonel shut the door and came to knock on her own.

"Carter?"

"Yes, sir?"

"One of the women from the village brought us some towels and some other...stuff. Not really sure if it's supposed to be soap or what."

The thought of a towel hadn't actually occurred to Sam until right then.

"Okay. Give me just a second and I'll come get it."

Opening the door just enough, Sam reached out and grabbed the "soap" and one of the towels before quickly shutting the door again.

Jack scrunched his face. "You're welcome!"

Sam smiled, stepping back into the tub. "Thank you!"

(Jack's POV)

Last night had been a little awkward. They had walked mainly in silence to the village. Once inside, Sam had quickly gone to check out the rest of their little residence. He followed behind her, stopping when he spotted the outhouse.

"Nice. That will be fun."

Carter had let out a tired laugh and when she turned, had patted his shoulder as she walked past him. That was a good sign he guessed. At least she wasn't glaring at him anymore.

Turning his attention back to the bedroom, Jack decided to start a fire. No more freezing at night. Hmm, that probably meant no more cuddling with Carter too. Shame.

After the fire was going to his satisfaction, the only thing he could think to do was turn down the bed. So going off to the far side, he took off his boots and socks, and proceeded to hop in. Carter followed shortly after, but neither said a word the rest of the night.

He was actually surprised at how quickly he heard her breathing regulate, letting him know she was asleep. She must have been far more tired than she'd let on. He, on the other hand, couldn't get comfortable. Usually, he could sleep just about anywhere. Not tonight. So he listened to Carter breathing. She'd sigh every now and again and Jack wondered what she was dreaming about.

Jack briefly considered scooting over to lie beside her but quickly put that out of his head. If he woke up that way, that wasn't his problem but he wasn't going to deliberately put himself in that position. He was her CO after all. Nevertheless, his feet found themselves roaming until they'd found hers. He smiled as she let out another content sigh and soon found himself falling asleep.

Jack woke up hearing water splashing. He didn't remember being near water when he went to sleep. Opening an eye, he started to remember where he was. Carter wasn't in bed and the bathroom door was shut. Question answered. "Back to sleep I go," he thought.

Knock, knock. Jack opened his eyes again. It could not possibly be any later than 0600. If that! Who could possibly be knocking that early in the morning? Better be damned important.

He opened the door. The middle aged woman on the door step almost looked startled.

"I am sorry to bother you, Colonel. My name is Nimmeya. I thought that you both could use these."

Looking down, she was holding towels and some tannish greenish...blob. He thanked her and with a nod, she walked away, trying to hold back a small smile. It then occurred to him that he probably had a severe case of bed head.

Taking the supplies to the bathroom, he knocked and told Carter what had happened. Jack waited as she came to the door and before you could say 'Bob's your uncle' she'd whipped open the door, grabbed what he had determined might feasibly be soap, and a towel, and shut the door again.

Jack grimaced. "You're welcome!"

He heard what sounded distinctly like a giggle followed by a "Thank you!"

After setting down the rest of the towels, Jack contemplated getting back into bed but thought better of it. Opening the shudders to let in some light, he could see some of the villagers were already getting up and about.

A while later, Sam finally came out of the bathroom. The colonel was standing at the window, dressed for the day, drinking...was that coffee?

"Mmm, that smells good. What is it?"

Jack looked down at his cup and then at her. Her hair was kind of wild, still damp from the bath. Fully uniformed, she ran her fingers through her hair as she walked towards him.

"I haven't fully decided yet. It tastes kinda like hot chocolate but not."

"Mind if I have a taste?"

He handed her the cup. She took a sip. He could tell she was trying to think of what it could be compared to.

"Hmm, you're right. Definitely like hot chocolate, but, well, not. Hey, where did you get that anyway?"

"One of the villagers came straight up to the window and gave me a cup. Acted like it was nothing and continued on her merry little way."

"Well, if we had to get stuck anywhere for a while, this place is definitely nice enough."

Sam started to get her pack ready to go. She wanted to get back to the stargate as soon as she could.

"Carter, I think I'm gonna stay in the village today. Some of these homes are in pretty bad shape after the quake. They're letting us stay here so I figure it's the least I can do to help."

That sounded like a good plan to her. She felt like she'd probably be able to focus more on the problem if he wasn't looking over her shoulder all the time.

"Keep your radio on you, though. I'll check in every hour."

"Yes, sir."

After speaking to Orlu about any food that she might be able to take with her, Sam headed for the Stargate.


	6. Tastes Like Chicken

Chapter 6-Tastes Like Chicken

"Carter, it's about that time."

Sam looked up from the DHD. It was a little past midday. If she was to get back to the village by dinner, she knew she'd need to leave soon. Just a few more minutes. She fibbed and told the colonel that she was on her way. A minute passed by.

"Carter, quit fiddling with your doohickeys and get moving."

She smiled. Letting an audible sigh be heard on the radio, she replied, "Yes, sir. I'm leaving right now."

"Good. I've heard we're having 'tastes like chicken' stew tonight."

Sam laughed. The colonel had said the same thing about every variety of meat they had experienced on this planet so far.

By the time she got to the village, Jack had already filled her plate and sat it across from his own at the end of the table. Everyone ate their meals together here and both Jack and Sam had found that it helped them get to know the villagers quicker.

Nimmeya was a personal favorite of Sam's. She had spunk and fire and a great sense of humor. When they had first seen the village, Sam thought that is was the traditional patriarchal society but the past two weeks of living here had shown her otherwise. The women were viewed with respect and treated as equals. While most of the people held to traditional roles, the women were allowed to work right alongside the men if they chose.

"So, how did your scouting go today?"

Jack's question tore her from her thoughts. Sam shrugged in answer to his question. She didn't want to sound dejected but she'd been searching for the past week for an alternate source of power for the DHD and hadn't found a thing.

The stargate was a delicate subject for them. Jack didn't want to question her too much about it and get her down if she hadn't found anything. Sam didn't want to tell him that she was beginning to lose hope. So with Sam's simple shrug, Jack left it at that.

"The village really looks good. Seems like you guys are almost done with all the repairs."

"Yeah well you almost took me out of commission the other day."

Sam looked at his black thumb and winced. "How was I to know that you were swinging a hammer? I was just checking in."

"Uhhuh, eat your stew." He smiled as he took another mouthful.

They'd gotten back in their rhythm and he was glad.

"What exactly is this we're eating anyway?"


	7. Do Me A Favor?

Chapter 7- Do Me A Favor?

Sam opened the door to the bedroom, drying her hair with a towel. The colonel was still sound asleep, sprawled across the whole bed. She bit her lower lip. He just looked so gosh darn cute. She had half a mind to go over and wake him ever so gently with a kiss. Sam could just see the shock on his face. Then, of course, the other half of her mind quickly slashed that thought. He couldn't be Jack O'Neill for her, he was her Commanding Officer. The past few days, it had been hard to remember that. She swore he had been going out of his way lately to be absolutely adorable.

They'd been on the planet for a month now. Sam had given up on scouting for another power source. They didn't have anything that would come close on this planet. So, she would go back to the DHD...again. Sam couldn't make herself give up. It was too hard of a thought for her to handle.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, she started to lace up her boots.

"Where are you going?"

Jack placed a hand on her hip, his voice betraying his grogginess.

"I'm gonna go back to the DHD. See if something will jump out at me since I've been away from it for a little while."

Jack nodded. "Give me a minute and I'll go with you."

Sitting up, Sam absentmindedly put her hand on his.

"Are you sure? What about the repair work?"

Jack yawned, laying his head back on the pillow and rubbing her hand softly with his thumb.

"Ah, that's all basically done with. Besides, I haven't gone with you more than two or three times since we got here."

A few moments passed by, Jack still gently stroking her hand. Sam looked at him and bit her lip again. He still wasn't fully awake.

"Colonel, you gonna get up?"

He opened his eyes. Lazily, he started to sit up. Squeezing her hand ever so softly, he said, "Yeah. Yeah, I'm going. I'm going."

He got out of bed and headed towards the bathroom. He'd started sleeping in just a pair of pajama pants that one of the villagers had given them and she had to say, he looked really good in them.

With a voice full of mischief and without turning around, Jack told her to quit staring at his butt as he went out the back door.

Covering her face with her hands, Sam fell back on the bed and actually squeaked. This was bad. Samantha Carter does not squeak. Teenage girls squeak. It was so not a good idea for him to be coming with her today.

(POV change)

It was getting harder and harder for Jack to look at Carter as just that. Carter. The major under his command. After all, how many colonel's share a bed night after night with their majors? How many watch helplessly as she crawls out of bed in the morning, wearing just a long t-shirt, walking on her tiptoes trying not to wake you, accentuating her toned legs with each step? Not many he imagined.

Jack kept trying to tell himself it had only been one month. One. Somehow he didn't see the government being okay with him doing what he had in mind to do to Carter after just one month. He knew he'd been slipping up lately. He'd been deliberately flirting with her for the past week. It was uncontrollable. He would look at her and before he could stop himself, he'd have said something to start some playful banter between them. And somewhere between thinking about Carter's legs and possible excuses he could make to General Hammond should the need arise, Jack fell back asleep.

The next thing he knew, Carter was leaning over the side of the bed. He reached out for her, eyes still slightly blurry and asked her where she was going. She said something about going back to the DHD.

"Give me a minute and I'll go with you."

He felt her put her hand over his. She had such nice smooth hands. Really. They were soft as silk. How did she get them to stay that way? If her hands are this smooth, he couldn't even imagine...

"Colonel, you gonna get up?"

Forcing himself to open his eyes, Jack started to crawl out of bed, squeezing her hand ever so gently before he let it go. Out of the corner of his eye as he walked to the bathroom, he saw Sam checking out his butt. Not a bad way to start the morning. Right before he walked out the back door, with a big grin on his face, he shouted at Carter to quit staring at his butt and shut the door.  
The walk to the gate was especially playful this morning. Both of them were completely at ease and carefree. Jack was glad when they reached the gate because if she had flashed one of her mega-watt grins at him one more time, he was pretty positive he would have no control over his next actions.

Reaching the gate put a damper on the morning though. Jack hadn't seen it in a while and had been trying not to focus on well, everything to do with it. But seeing the gate was like smacking him in the face with everything left behind. Hell, he even missed Doc Fraiser with her big scary needles. Okay, maybe not so much with the needles, but still. Looking at Carter, he could see that she was going through much the same emotions as him. She'd probably gone through this everyday coming out here.

Carter got right to work while Jack scanned the area. He didn't really have anything to look for but it was habit. After a while, he found himself just looking at her. She was focused so intently on what she was doing, though he was sure she couldn't be doing anything different than she'd been doing for the past month. He knew that it was time. She'd done everything she could do. It wasn't fixable.Still, he wasn't sure he had the heart to say it out loud. He let her keep working, which she did for a while. Then she sighed and seemed to stare blankly at it.

"Carter, face it. It's broken."

She didn't look up at him or say a word. She just sat there, still staring at that dang thing.

Jack walked over to where he could see her face. She was crying.He got down on the ground beside her.

"Come here," he whispered.

She fell into his arms, shaking with tears.

"I'm sorry, sir. I tried."

"Hey."

He pulled her head back until she was looking at him.

"Look at me. You did everything that could possibly be done. I have no doubt about that. You understand me?"

She nodded, trying to control the tears.

"We'll be fine. We've got each other. And it's not like we're on some hostile planet with snakes trying to get in our heads or ...big bugs or something."

She laughed."Yes, sir."

He wiped the tears from her face and kept his hand there stroking her cheek.

Jack smiled. "You think you could do me a favor?"

"What's that?"

"Quit calling me sir."

She laughed again. "Yes, s..." "..Jack."

"Okay. Let's go home."


	8. Vacation Time

Chapter 8-Vacation Time

Home. No more SGC, no more lab, no more Earth. God, it was unimaginable to think that she would be here for the rest of her life. She was so used to being somewhere new all the time that the idea of being in one place was foreign to her. What was the name of this planet anyway? She'd never actually asked before.

The walk to the village had been spent mainly in silence. They were both lost in their thoughts. Occasionally, Jack would put his arm around her and rub her arm. He had no idea what to say at this point but wanted to comfort her nonetheless.

Jack was trying to adjust himself to the situation at hand when another thought came to mind.

"Ya know, Carter, we still might be rescued. You're dad is a tokra after all."

Sam had thought of that already. Judging by where they were, she'd calculated that it would probably take a year or more before this planet could be reached by an available tokra vessel. Still, a year wasn't forever.

"That's true, sir."

She couldn't decide whether it would be a good thing to tell him or not what she had figured. In the end, she thought it would be best he knew.

"That quick, huh? Well, then, we're just cashing in on all the downtime we're owed."

Sam smiled.

"And Carter?"

"Yes, sir."

"I told you to call me Jack."

"Only if you quit calling me Carter."

"Deal."


	9. What Now?

Chapter 9-What now?

The awkwardness had returned. Now that they were just Sam and Jack, they weren't sure what exactly to do with each other. They both knew what they wanted but neither just wanted to jump right into anything and in the back of their minds; they knew that eventually they would probably be off of this planet. Could they go back to what it was before if they crossed that line? Jack for one knew that he couldn't. He wouldn't want to. But he also knew that eventually something would happen between them. They were good at hiding their feelings, but not that good.

So, even though Sam was no longer going to the gate and Jack was getting to spend even more time with her, nothing had changed. Sam was spending a good portion of each of her day with Nimmeya learning as much as she could about the village and the planet they were on. And each night at dinner, she would prattle on about what she had learned.It was good to see that excitement in her face again. It was the same look she would get when she'd just had a major breakthrough with one of her doohickeys.

"The reason why we have the heated water is because this place is virtually surrounded by hot springs. Their efficiently is really quite amazing. Nimmeya said that there are other villages on Sumae, some larger and smaller than their own but that most tend to stick to where they are from because the distances in between are so far apart. And did you realize that it hasn't rained once since the downpour at the earthquake? Nimmeya said that we came at the end of a short rainy season that they have here and that most of the year, it hardly rains at all but there is a thick dew each morning that manages to keep everything fertile and green. Jack, are you listening to me?"

"Hmm? Yeah, I'm listening. Sumae, villages, dew."

Sam smiled. "Sorry if I'm boring you. Just tell me and I'll stop."

"No, no. Keep going. Ya know, though, I don't think Sumae really fits."

"What do you mean, s.." Sam pursed her lips. It was taking some practice to not call him sir.

"I dunno. The planet just doesn't really scream Sumae to me."

"According to Nimmeya, Sumae means much the same as Earth does for us. Sumae is part of a language that was once spoken here but has since died out. But as you call tell in their names for some things, parts of the language did stick."

"Yeah, like the way they call their houses...what is it?"

"Chelinkas."

"Yeah, see, that's just a mouthful. Ya know something I've always wondered though?"

"What's that?"

"Why is it, all the planets we've been to, the people speak English?"

"I used to wonder the same thing. Dad once told me that English is actually a language invented by the Gou'o'uld. They took people from all over the earth over time and they all spoke different languages. The Gou'o'uld didn't deem "slaves" worthy enough to learn their language, so rather than learning the languages of their slaves, they invented a language that they forced the people to learn."

Jack grunted.

"So, in essence, we actually speak an alien tongue. I mean, obviously they based it off of other earth languages, especially Latin, but still."

"That's disturbing."

"Daniel would have had a field day. I just realized that I never got the chance to tell him about that."


	10. Space Monkey

Chapter 10-Space Monkey

"Jack. Jack. Jack!"

"NOOOOO!!!!!"

Jack jumped straight up in bed, soaked with sweat.

"Whoa. Whoa. It's okay. It was just a nightmare. You're okay."

He sat, breathing hard, still trying to get his bearings. Sam went into the bathroom and came back a few moments later with a wet cloth.

"Here, this might help cool you down."

"Thanks."

"You wanna talk about it?"

Not really, he thought, kicking off the covers. Looking at her with her eyes all wide with concern, he let out a sigh and lay back in bed.

"I had a nightmare Daniel was dying."

"Oh."

It hadn't been that long since Daniel had ascended. Even though he wasn't actually dead, the whole thing had been really hard for Jack to accept. Ever since, he'd have occasional nightmares about Daniel dying, either from the radiation or being burned alive like the false memory that had once been implanted in his brain.

"I sometimes dream about him too."

Sam was lying down again, beside him. Jack turned towards her. She looked thoughtful and sad. Finally she spoke again.

"Ya know who I feel the worst for out of all of this?"

"Who?"

"Teal'c. He's lost all of us. Daniel and now us."

Jack had thought about Teal'c since they'd been gone but he'd never really looked at it from that point of view. It made him feel bad for being stuck here, like it was somehow his fault.

"Teal'c will be alright. We'll all be alright."

Sam looked up at him again and scooted until they were close together, her head on his chest. Jack wrapped his arms around her.

"I just miss them, ya know."

"I know. I miss them too."


	11. Uncharted Territory

Chapter 11-Uncharted Territory

"I am so venturing into uncharted territory with this."

"What do you mean, uncharted territory?"

Sam held a sowing needle clumsily as she tried to sow two pieces of fabric together. Nimmeya giggled.

"It's an expression that basically means going into the unknown or trying something you know nothing about."

"Ah, I see."

While Sam had taken the necessary medical classes for the field, she had never been much of the Suzie Homemaker type so this was taking some effort on her part.

Nimmeya watched her curiously for a while and then seemingly unable to contain herself any longer continued, "Sam, what do people on your planet use to symbolize union?"

"Do you mean as in marriage?"

Nimmeya shook her head.

"The husband and wife wear rings on their left hand on this finger," she said pointing to what she only knew as, well, the ring finger.

"Oh."

Nimmeya shook her head again, looking almost confused as she continued sowing.

"Why, what do you use as symbols here?"

"The idea is the same. Only here, any form of adornment on a man or woman shows that they have a mate. It could be a necklace, bracelet, or ring."

"That's a nice idea."

"I suppose I was wrong then in assuming that Jack and yourself were in union."

Sam gasped and blushed, simultaneously stabbing herself with the needle.

"Oh. Me and Jack. Ow. No. We're not married."

Nimmeya tried to hold back a smile.

"Right. Let me get you something for that."

Handing her a cloth, Nimmeya sat back down.

"I'm sorry for the accommodations, then. We all just assumed."

"Oh, no. Don't worry about that. We weren't even expecting an open dwelling here period. We have been very thankful for that."

"I hope you don't ask my asking, Sam, but may I ask why that you and Jack have never wed?"

Sam cleared her throat loudly. "Um, well, me and Jack, we just..."

"Your feelings for each other are most apparent. Is it not a natural thing to marry on your planet?"

"No, no, it is. Natural, I mean. For people to want to marry. It's just that, well, the line of work that we do, did, doesn't allow for people who work together to, um, marry."

"Why is that?"

"Well, there are several reasons but for one, our job is a very dangerous one and when your emotions are that involved, it can lead to a bad decision that can lead to people getting hurt. The regulations are there to prevent that."

"I see. And now that you do not have these regulations?"

"Oh. Well. Um."

Nimmeya laughed. "Uncharted territory?"


	12. That Unspoken Thing

Chapter Twelve-That Unspoken Thing

"I have a surprise for our two month anniversary tonight."

"Anniversary?"

"On the planet."

"Oh, what would that be?"

"Fish."

"Fish?"

"Yep, and it's THIS big too," Jack said stretching his hands out almost as far as they would go.

"I take it your fishing trip went well today."

"I'm not kidding, they were all THIS big," he said, motioning again.

Sam giggled. He looked like an excited little boy.

"Uhhuh, sure."

He scowled at her. "No seconds for you tonight."

He mock sulked into the bathroom. Sam laughed, throwing a towel at him.

Jack looked back at her as she bent to put her shoes on. They'd gotten in a nice rhythm. It was like there was an unspoken thing between them to take things slow. And they had been. The most they had done was to cuddle together each night. That was his favorite time of day. As they drifted off to sleep, they would talk about whatever was on their minds.

Jack had enjoyed seeing this side of Carter. Getting to know what she was like on a deeper level. Before, he'd always tried to stay back, knowing he already had feelings for her. He knew getting to know her more would only make him want her more. And it had. She really was perfect. Looking down at his shirt, he thought, "Well, except maybe for sowing".


	13. Mercy

Chapter 13-Mercy

"That was really good last night, Jack."

"Didn't I tell you it was big, too?"

Sam rolled her eyes. "Yes, Jack. I'll admit. The fish was actually as big as you said it was."

Jack smiled with pride, his eyes still closed. Sam moved closer, laying her hand on his chest and her head on his shoulder.

"Ya know, I never took you for the giggly type."

Jack gave her a menacing look. "I do not giggle."

"Whatever. You do too. You were tired. It was cute."

Jack shook his head like she'd gone mad. "I do not giggle."

"I bet I could make you giggle right now."

He gave her an incredulous look. Ever so lightly under the covers, she tickled his ribs. Sam had never seen the man move quite so fast.

"I know you just didn't!"

Sam was feeling playful and bit her lower lip. "I do believe I heard a giggle."

Jack smiled mischievously and before Sam knew it, he was tickling the daylights out of her. Laughing uncontrollably, she screamed, "Mercy. Mercy. Please."

Both of them laughing, he stopped, his face inches away from her own. They looked at each other intently, still trying to catch their breath. Flashing a wicked smile, Sam flipped Jack on his back before he knew what hit him and started tickling him again. Getting himself free, he pinned her arms above her head with one hand and threw his leg firmly over both of hers, leaving her completely vulnerable.

Tickling her mercilessly, he shouted, "Do you give? Do you give?" as she giggled wildly.

Finally, she screamed, "Yes! Yes, I give."

Jack paused and gave her a skeptical look. He held her eyes with his own, just staring at her. Then, letting her arms go, he leaned down and kissed her. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer, intensifying their kiss. Unable to go without breathing for any longer, Sam pulled away, taking in a deep breath and staring deeply into his eyes.

Her lips were red and swollen, her eyes huge and longing. Taking his thumb, Jack brushed it softly across her lips and this time much softer and slower, kissed her lips. Their tongues met, briefly at first, and then explored deeper.

At that moment, there was a knock on the door. They looked at each other, lips still touching. Jack leaned back, still staring at her with almost a pleading 'don't answer it' look in his eyes.

The knock came again and Sam knew she'd have to get up and get it. It's not like they could pretend they weren't there.

She placed her hand on the arm he was using to hold himself up. Lowering his head for a moment, he rolled to the other side of the bed. Quickly getting up, she ran her fingers through her hair and rushed to put on some pants as she answered the door. It was Nimmeya.

"Good morning. I was on my way to go help with making breakfast this morning and I remembered that you had said that you wanted to come."

Looking Sam over questioningly, she almost started to say never mind when Sam cut in, "Yes, give me just one minute and I'll be ready, okay?"

Nimmeya nodded and said that she would wait.

Sam had completely forgotten about agreeing to go with Nimmeya. While Sam wasn't the best cook ever, she wanted to do what she could to help and make herself apart of the village and if nothing else, she could help with the clean-up.

Closing the door, she leaned her head against it for a moment as she thought of Jack. Turning around, he was partway out of bed, leaning over to grab his shoes. Sam walked to stand in front of him.

"I'm sorry."

He took one of her hands in his own, and placed his other hand on her hip, just under her shirt, stroking his thumb softly against her skin. Looking up at her he said something about it being okay, that he needed to get going to work on a new house that was being built anyway.

Finishing put on his boots, he stood up, leaving barely any room in between them. Looking like he was thinking better of it, he gave her a quick kiss and then headed out the door.


	14. Distracted

Chapter 14-Distracted

"& !&$#" Jack grabbed his finger in pain. This was the second time today that he had smashed that finger with a hammer, not to mention the million other things that had gone wrong today. Admittedly, Jack knew exactly why he couldn't focus. He couldn't get his mind off of what had happened this morning.

The workers, himself included, had continued working while they ate lunch so he hadn't gotten to see Sam until dinner. And then, not much eating got accomplished. They could barely keep their eyes off of each other. Sam had tried to appear normal and have conversations with others, which he thought was cute, but she had kept staring back at him as well.

Devare had suggested they work a little more after dinner so begrudgingly that was what Jack was doing now.

"Jack, everything okay with you today?" Devare looked at him with a half smirk on his face.

"Yeah. I'm fine. Brains just not working that great today."

"Why don't you head on home? I'm just about to leave myself."

Jack put on his best act of wanting to stay and then took his leave, heading straight home.

Sam got out of the bath, wrapping the towel around her. She'd been absent minded all day today. All she could think about was those lips and the way he had looked at her. If the plates in the kitchen had not been made of metal, she would have broken at least three today.

Opening the door from the bathroom, set met Jack, who had just shut the front door. Pausing just a moment, Jack closed the distance between them and wrapped his arms around her, grabbing fistfuls of the towel, and kissed her hard. It took her breath away. Her toes curled, she saw stars, everything ever said about great kisses was happening to her at that moment.

Standing on her tiptoes, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pushed him towards the bed. They fell hard still clinging to one another. Sam grabbed the bottom of his shirt quickly pulling it over his head and then started on his pants. Why he had chosen to wear his BDU's today was beyond her at this moment as she struggled to hurry and get them off.

Reaching up, he undid her towel, leaving it hanging open and completely revealing herself to him. They both paused. Looking at her beautiful form, he caressed her face with one hand and placing one hand on her bare hip, leaned up and laid her back against the mattress. They stared at each other, breathing in the moment. And slowly,passionately, they revealed everything to each other, six years of pent up frustration finally being released.


	15. Perfect Ten

Chapter 15-Perfect Ten

Knock. Knock.

Jack groggily opened his eyes.

Knock. Knock.

He smiled, seeing and feeling Sam curled up against him.

Knock. Knock.

Sam sighed. "I guess I should get that."

"No. No. Let me."

Jack jumped out of bed, looking for his pants as Sam eyed his bare behind. He really did have the perfect butt she decided. Definitely a ten. Looking on the floor, she saw his Marvin the Martian boxer shorts and giggled to herself.

Jack put on his most pitiful face and answered the door. Orlu stood there waiting and on seeing Jack, asked if he was feeling well.

Jack coughed, surprising himself at its authentic sound.

"I'm afraid not. I think Sam and I have both come down with something."

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry. I could bring you some medicine..."

"No, that's alright. On earth, we like to let nature take its course if we can. Give us a few days in bed and we'll be right as rain."

"Are you sure? It doesn't sound like an advisable thing to do."

"Orlu, I promise you, if we get worse, we'll let you know."

"Okay, Jack. I'll be sure to tell the village to let you be for a few days."

"Thank you, Orlu. Thank you."

Jack shut the door, completely satisfied with himself.

"What did he want?" Sam asked, coming out of the bathroom.

"I have no idea, but I just got us a honeymoon."


	16. Realization

Chapter 16-Realization

The next few days were completely devoted to three things: 1)food, brought by a helpful villager for the "sick" couple, 2)sleep, and 3)sex, lots and lots of sex.

After eating dinner that had been brought to them on the third day of their "honeymoon", Sam said, "Ya know, I feel a little guilty that they are bringing us food."

"Don't. Besides, we have to go back to normal tomorrow anyway."

"Miraculous recovery, huh?"

"I don't know about you but I feel much better."

Sam smiled as she leaned over and gave him a kiss. With a wicked grin, she said, "I dunno. I've had better."

He glared at her. "Oh really?"

Running her fingers over his chest, "Yeah, I mean, I knew you were getting on up there and all..." Sam playfully nibbled on his ear, "but, I was expecting, ya know, fireworks."

Giving her an evil look, he quickly flipped her on her back. "Really? For me being such an 'old man', you sure seemed pretty satisfied last night."

Giggly wildly, she pulled him down on top of her.

Walking out of the house the next morning, Jack couldn't wipe the smile off his face.

"Hi, Jack." "Hi, Jack."

Looking across the way, he saw Elo and Taven, two 7 year old boys that had taken a liking to him since their arrival here.

"Watch this."

They took the yoyo's he had made them and showed him their latest tricks.

"Nice!"

They smiled, happy that they had done something he liked.

"Now see if you can figure out how to do this." Jack took one of the boys yo-yo's and "walked the dog".

"Nice!", they said in unison.

Continuing on his way, a thought came to him. Sam could get pregnant. Would she be okay with that? Would he be okay with that? Jack thought about Charlie. The sinking feeling in his chest that always came when he first thought of Charlie hit him. He honestly didn't know. And that bothered him.

Jack thought about it all day. Would he even be able to be a good parent to a kid after everything that had happened? What if something happened? He couldn't live through that twice.

Even though he honestly didn't feel like eating, he went to dinner anyway. Sam wasn't there yet. Probably helping bring the food out. And then he saw her.

She plopped down across from him at the table and started prattling on about something, but he didn't hear a word she was saying. She was so beautiful and ...bubbly. Her blue eyes positively glowed with excitement as she spoke. She gave him a mega-watt smile, showing off those dimples that he loved so much. There was no doubt about it. Jack loved this woman. And that was all it took. Looking at her, he knew that he wanted it all; he wanted to raise babies and grow old and wrinkly with her; his Sam.


	17. If

Chapter 17-If

A few nights later as they laid in bed, they talked, as had become their custom.

Sam was talking about something to do with the farming that was about to be started for the year. Jack listened to her with a careless smile, gazing over her features, memorizing every line, every curve.

Seeing that Jack didn't appear to be thinking about farming, Sam looked at him questioningly, "What?"

"Nothin'. I was just thinking."

"Thinking about what?"

Getting a serious look in his eye, he gently stroked his thumb on her cheek, cupping her face in his hand. "I am so in love with you. And I can't think of a single thing I've done in my life that makes me deserve you." Pausing, he continued, "And I just realized that I hadn't told you that before."

A smile coming to her face, Sam leaned forward and kissed him.

"Jack, you are the best man I have ever met. There is not a way I could know you and not be in love with you."

"Our alternate selves really speak to that."

Sam paused before speaking again. "Along those lines, I've been thinking about something..."

"Found one of those doohickey mirrors, did you?"

"No. Not exactly. I was thinking more general like in terms of the SGC."

"Oh. Okay. Shoot."

"I was taking a run the other morning, and I saw the stargate. It got me to thinking and I've decided that if we do ever get rescued, I'm going to retire from the military."

"Absolutely not. If anyone retires, it's damn well gonna be me."

"No. I've thought alot about it and it makes sense. I am first and foremost a scientist. I love taking things apart and learning how they work. It's the discovery of new things that is the most fascinating part of our job for me. I mean, the main reason I joined the air force was because I knew it was the best way to get into NASA. I would still be a valuable part of the team as a Dr."

"But what about you commanding your own team? If you retire from the military, you could never do that."

"I don't really want to do that. Besides, I like you bossing me around."

"I'm serious, Sam."

"I am, too. I mean think about it. If we were on different teams, we'd constantly be off world at different times and we'd never see each other. Not to mention the worrying we would do, not being able to know what was happening with the other person."

Jack stared at her with a cross look for a few moments. "You have thought alot about this, haven't you?"

Sam shook her head.

"Are you sure? Are you really sure?"

"I'm positive."


	18. Those Four Words

Chapter 18-Those Four Words  
Sam looked down at the small container she was holding. Last one, she thought. Popping the pill in her mouth, she swallowed it quickly.

She had been dreading this moment. She knew that she would need to talk to Jack about it but she really did not want to. Still, it needed to be talked about. No surprises.

Coming back into the bedroom, Jack was just heading out the front door.

"Jack, we need to talk."

He turned on his heels, facing her with a cock of his head. In all his experience with women, those four words were never a good sign.

"You might want to sit down."

"Okay?"

Sam started to pace. She couldn't believe how nervous she was. "Okay. So, we've been..." She paused, looking at him for a moment, "ya know, for a month now and well, I just took my last birth control pill this morning so from here on out, I could get pregnant at any time. And well, I know you may not be okay with that and if you're not, I understand. And whatever you decide, you decide, but I just thought you should know."

Jack sat, staring at her with a blank expression. He had no idea that she could talk that fast. "Wait, what? You've been taking birth control?"

"Yeah. I had had an extra month's supply in my pack. It's kind of a long story but I had run into Janet on my way to leave for here and she'd given it to me then so I just stuck it in my pack and..." Seeing the blank expression on his face again, "anyways, so after I ran out of the first one I just stopped taking it until that morning when we got...interrupted, when I thought it might be a good idea to start them back up."

Jack smiled thinking back to that day and then remembered what they had actually been talking about. Sam looked really worried. "Sam, come here."

Once she had sat down, looking at him, he said, "Sam, I would be really happy. I have no doubt about it. I mean, I thought you coulda been getting pregnant this whole time."

Sam tried to read his expression to see if he was truly sincere. At last she let out a sigh, not realizing she had been holding her breath.

"Are you okay with it?"

"Yeah. I guess I'd just never looked that far into my future, seeing myself having kids. I was always so busy with work that I didn't think about it. And with "us" being so new and well, everything else, I didn't know how you would be with it."

Jack knew "everything else" had to do at least in part with Charlie and shook his head to show that he understood. "Well, I know one things for sure, I hope our kids look like you."


	19. Picnic

Chapter 19-Picnic

"Sam. Sam." Jack was getting impatient. "Sam!"

"What?"

"Put down the calculator."

"It's not a calculator, it's a..."

"Ah-ah, I don't care what it is. We came out here to have a picnic, not for you to play with one of your doohickey's."

"But this is really amazing..."

"Carter, if you don't put that thing down right now, I will throw you into that lake."

"You wouldn't dare!"

"I wouldn't, would I?"

Jumping up, Jack lunged in her direction. Sam quickly got to her feet, dropping everything and running with everything she had.

Giggling, Sam escaped his grasp three times. Breaking into a sprint again, she thought she'd finally outrun him when she was grabbed from behind.

"No! Please, put me down! I'll do anything!"

Dropping her back to her feet, Jack said, "Anything?", with an evil smile.

Putting on her best pout, Sam asked, "How could you do anything bad to this face?"

Leaning in to kiss her, Jack replied, "It would be difficult."

Thinking she'd won, Sam kissed him feeling rather triumphant.

And then, before she knew what hit her, Sam was in the water.

"Hmm. Not as hard as I thought."

Catching her breath, Sam glared up at him.

Cracking a grin, Jack squatted down to help her up.

Without so much as any warning, she grabbed Jack's hand and pulled him in.

After he'd caught his breath, Sam laughed, "Oh, like you didn't see that coming?"

"No, I did. You were gonna get me back somehow. Thought I minds well get it over with."

Wrapping her arms around his neck, pulling him in for a kiss, she replied, "Who said I was done?"


	20. Promises

Chapter 20-Promises

Planting season was in full force. The village had a huge area of land devoted to growing food for everyone. Jack and Sam were walking along side each other, planting seeds down their respective rows as they went along.

Sam was humming some song she couldn't quite remember the name to. Jack had been peculiarly quiet today. Glancing over at him, he was staring at her, wearing a goofy grin.

"What?"

"Nothin'."

Giving him a funny look, Sam continued down the way. She looked again a few minutes later and he was still looking just as goofy as before.

"What?"

Jack walked over to her row, standing just in front of her. Taking her hands, he intertwined her fingers with his own.

"Marry me."

She smiled. "According to Nimmeya, everyone here thinks we're already married."

"I'm serious. Let's get married. Right here. Right now."

"Jack, we're alone, in the middle of a corn field."

"Details."

Pulling out a small ring from his pocket, he held it up for her to see. It was small, a silver band with a blue stone. The stone reminded her a little of a sapphire.

"But how did you...?"

"I found the stone that day we went up to the lake. Of course it didn't look quite that pretty when I found it, but..." Shrugging, he let the sentence drop.

"The band. It looks like silver."

Jack smiled. Here he had just proposed to her and she's gotta know how he made the thing.

"My dog tags. I melted down part of it to make a band."

Sam smiled. He'd put alot of effort to make her a ring. She would have just as happily wore a piece of string on her finger. As long as she was his.

"So, Samantha Carter, will you marry me?"

With a yes from her, Jack's face practically beamed with happiness. Slipping the ring on her finger, he frowned. It was too big.

Sam looked at him reassuredly. "I can easily fix that."

Taking both of her hands again, Jack started, "I, Jack O'Neill, take you, Samantha Carter, to be my wedded wife, to have and to hold, to love and to cherish..." Pausing, Jack couldn't remember what went next. "...to surrender my share of the blankets." Sam laughed. "And most importantly, I promise to love you for the rest of my life."

Sam took in a deep breath. She couldn't believe how happy she was right now. Never would have imagined that she would get married in a corn field wearing BDU's and dirt on her hands, but at this moment, she couldn't think of a way it could be any more perfect.

"I, Samantha Carter, take you, Jack O'Neill,..."


	21. Adrenaline

Chapter 21-Adrenaline  
"That's lame."

"It is not."

"Is too."

"Take it back."

Jack was standing at the top of a ladder, trying to patch up the roof to his and Sam's house. Last night it had rained and water came in right above where they slept.

"Will you two break it up already?"

Elo and Taven looked up at him. "Sorry."

Jack went back to working when he caught sight of his ring and smiled. Sam had just given it to him. She'd been working on it for a while but refused to let him see it until she was done. It was made out of silver like his but instead of being a plain band, she had put some kind of design on it. Jack had no idea how she'd done it, but he liked it.

"Stop it, Elo."

"You started it."

Jack sighed. He liked those kids but they were about to get underneath his skin today. Just then, the ladder started to wobble, falling and taking Jack with it. He landed, face down, with a thud. He tried to take in a gasp of air and immediately regretted it. Pulling himself up with his arms, he watched as the backside of a hammer slid out of his stomach. It was wedge shaped and covered in blood. He coughed, causing himself more pain. Looking to his left, Taven lay unconscious. Oh god, he thought.

"Taven, buddy, say something."

Nothing.

Jack shook him.

Hearing a shaky voice calling his name, he turned and saw Elo with tears in his eyes.

Jack's vision was getting blurry. The pain was unbelievable. "Elo, go get help."

Falling back down again, Jack heard Elo calling for his mother.

"Maena! Maena! Maena!"

Sam heard the calls from inside Nimmeya's house. Coming outside, she saw Elo bawling, his mother knelt before him.

"Elo, what is wrong?"

"Maena, Jack and Taven are hurt. They need help."

Sam's stomach dropped. Her feet were moving before her head could even begin to comprehend what she had just heard. Reaching the house, she saw him. Jack was unconscious on the ground and blood stained his clothes. Rushing to his side, she yelled, "Jack! Oh my god. Jack! Please, answer me."

Jack opened his eyes just a hair, his mouth twitching into a faint smile. "Hey."

"Oh thank god. Jack, what happened?"

She lifted his shirt and saw the gash. The urge to throw up came over her. Not because she couldn't handle the sight of the injury itself. No, she'd seen too many battle wounds to be effected so easily. But this was Jack and now, she was scared to death of something she didn't even want to think about.

"Hammers and me haven't exactly been getting along on this planet."

Leave it to Jack to make a joke at a time like this.

Sam heard a gasp behind her. Quickly recovering herself, Nimmeya asked, "What can I do?"

"My pack. There's a pack in the house. It has medical equipment in it."

Before Sam had even finished, Nimmeya was running inside.

Sam put pressure on the wound to try and stop the bleeding. Jack groaned, his eyes rolling back in his head.

"No. Don't you go to sleep. You stay awake."

Barely audible, Jack whispered, "Sam..."

"I'm here. Just hold on okay?"

He nodded.

"Taven?"

Sam hadn't seen Taven. She hadn't seen anything but Jack since she'd gotten there.

Jack started to go out of it again.

"Jack! Damn't! Wake up, soldier! You fight it, you hear me?"

Nimmeya came rushing back out. Quickly finding the emergency medical equipment, Sam gave Jack a shot of morphine. What she was going to have to do was going to hurt. After cleaning the wound, Sam was thankful to see that it didn't appear there was any internal damage. Her hands covered in blood, she took the needle in her hand. Pressing it against his skin, her hands started to shake. Sam closed her eyes. She could feel the adrenaline running through her veins. She needed to calm down to do this.

Feeling someone touch her hand, she jerked her eyes open.

It was Nimmeya. "Sam, let me do this."

"No. I can do it." Starting again, her hands shook even more. "Okay. Okay. You can do it. But hurry."

Sam held his hand while Nimmeya sowed up the wound. After she was done, Sam wrapped his abdomen with assistance and he was taken inside to their room.

Sam changed his clothes and put him under the blanket. Grabbing a chair, she sat next to the bed. She was still covered in blood. But she was unable to leave his side. Afraid that if she did, that he would quit breathing, that he would die and leave her there alone.

So she sat. For how long, she really didn't know. Hours, maybe. It was dark out, she knew that much. The only sound that could be heard was Jack's shallow breathing. Scaring herself at the sound, Sam burst into tears. Until that moment, she hadn't cried once. The adrenaline had her going so strong, focusing on what needed to be done. And now that she was just waiting for something to happen, she lost it. The tears came long and hard until her head ached. Wiping her face with her hands, she saw the dried blood on them as if for the first time. Sam ripped her clothes off . She had to get his blood off of her.

Running a bath, she climbed into the tub as soon as it was full, scrubbing her skin until it burned. Then she found herself crying again.

Once she felt that she had control over herself, Sam climbed out of the tub and got dressed. She crawled into bed, curling up beside Jack and taking his hand.

"I love you, Jack O'Neill."


	22. Scared

Chapter 22-Scared

Sam woke up feeling unbearably hot. Yesterday's events instantly flooded her mind causing her to jerk fully awake. Jack was the reason she was so hot. He was burning up with a fever. She rushed into the bathroom and got a cool wet cloth to cool him down. She had to cool him down.

Jack moaned in his sleep. He was in pain. Morphine. He needed more morphine. After she gave him another shot, Sam changed his bandages. The stitches had held and it didn't look infected.

Nimmeya walked in as she was finishing putting on fresh bandages. She could see the panic in Sam's face.

"He has a fever."

"I'll be right back. I know something that will bring it down."

About ten minutes later, Nimmeya returned with two soaked clothes. "Do you have anything to cover his feet?"

Socks. Where were his socks? Finding them on the floor, she gave them to Nimmeya.

Nimmeya then put the soaked clothes on the soles of Jack's feet and pulled his socks over them.

"This will bring his temperature down from his head to his feet, where it can do no damage."

Sam shook her head, hoping that Nimmeya was right.

Nimmeya left shortly after, leaving Sam to sit in her chair and wait.

The next morning, Sam held his hand, laying her head on the bed, while still sitting in the chair. She hadn't slept at all and she was exhausted.

"Sam?" She felt Jack squeeze her hand.

Sam jumped up, feeling his forehead. His fever was gone. "Thank god. Jack, how are you feeling?"

"Peachy."

Sam smiled for the first time in two days.

"Taven, is he okay?"

"Yeah, he's fine. Nimmeya said he just got knocked out, that's all."

Seemingly satisfied with that answer, Jack squeezed her hand one more time before falling back asleep.

Nimmeya came in shortly thereafter with a tray of food.

"How is he?"

"His fever has broken. He was awake a few minutes ago."

"That's wonderful news." She sat the tray on a small table that Jack had built. He'd said that it was so she would have a place to work on her doohickey's.

Stating the obvious, Nimmeya told Sam that she had brought her some food. "And don't you say you don't want anything either. You haven't eaten in two days."

Sam wasn't hungry at all but she wasn't in the mood to fight either so she accepted her plate.

"Nimmeya, thank you...for everything."

Nimmeya gave her a mothering smile. "You're welcome, Sam."

After eating her food which she practically inhaled, Sam asked, "How did you know to do that for his fever?"

"My mother. The cloth was soaked in egg whites. It was something my mother would do for me and my sister whenever we would get a fever."

Nimmeya left after a little while had past and Sam crawled in bed with Jack. Curling up beside him, she went to sleep, resting well for the first time in two days.


	23. Jack's Expertise

Chapter 23-Jack's Expertise

Elo and Taven came by the next day, both with tears in their eyes.

"Hey guys. Why the long faces?"

Elo wiped his eyes. "We're really sorry, Jack. It's my fault you got hurt. I pushed Taven and he fell into the ladder."

"Hey. It's nobody's fault. You understand me? Besides, I'm fine. I'd be out of this bed now if they'd let me. I'll tell ya what, once I do get outta here, I'll take you two up to the lake and we'll go swimming. What do ya say?"

The boys replied by practically leaping on Jack. "Umpth! Okay, guys, the hugging will have to wait, I think."

After that, Jack steadily got better. He ranted and whined until Sam finally let him get out of bed though he was under strict orders not to do anything until he was completely better.

Sam kept staring at him, gently caressing his face, while they lay in bed one night.

"I thought I'd lost you."

"Nah. Can't get rid of me that easy."

Lifting his arm for her to come closer, she did, snuggling up to his chest and taking in a deep breath. She loved that purely Jack smell.

He wiggled next to her.

"I'm sorry. Did I hurt you?"

"No, I was just trying to figure something out."

"What?"

He smiled. "I think you're pregnant."

"What?! I think I would know that before you, Jack O'Neill. ...Are you trying to say that I've gotten fat?"

"No." Looking down at her breasts, he said, "But those have definitely gotten bigger."

She was offended and amused all at the same time. "They have not!"

"I happen to be an expert when it comes to your breasts, and they are definitely bigger."

She looked down at her breasts. They didn't look any bigger to her.

"Well, I haven't had any other symptoms of pregnancy."

"When was the last time you had that 'time of the month'?"

Huh. Sam couldn't remember exactly. "I'm not sure. I've never really been very regular off the pill but I think its maybe been two months ago."

Jack smiled. "Hey mama."


	24. Hormones

Chapter 24-Hormones

Jack had been right. Oh had he been right. Sam was as big as a house and could no longer walk, just waddle. She was constantly hot and she swore there had to be five babies in there with how hungry she was.

Jack walked into their house to find her standing in the middle of the room, elbow on belly and chin in hand, staring at the wall.

"We need to tear this wall out."

"Um. Why?"

Sam looked at him like the answer was obvious. Her hormones had been all over the place and Jack was keenly aware of how quickly she could go up or down.

"For the baby?!" Looking around the room, she said, "I was trying to move the bed but I'm the size of a tank and I couldn't get it to go anywhere. Then I realized; there was no where else to put it."

Jack wasn't even going to ask why she was trying to move the bed in the first place.

"We have no where to put a baby, Jack." She sounded on the verge of being slightly hysterical. Jack decided now would probably be a good time to show her his surprise.

"I have a solution for that." Turning and getting something from outside, Jack brought in a small wooden crib.

It had little details etched in the wood and inside, a little white pillow on a little bed with a white blanket.

Sam started bawling.

"You don't like it?"

"I love it. It's beautiful. I just can't stop crying."

Jack was at a loss. He had absolutely no idea what to say when she cried. In this particular instance, he had the urge to laugh but he didn't think it would be a good idea for her to see that. Not if he wanted to live anyway. So he held her until she got control of herself.

"I'm sorry. I know I've been a hormone crazed buffoon the last couple of months."

"Nonsense. I've never thought you were a buffoon."

Sam laughed and hit him for being such a dork.

"We still need to tear out that wall."


	25. Giggles

Chapter 25-Giggles

"How about Maggie?"

Sam crinkled up her nose.

"Lisa?"

She shook her head.

"Marge?"

Blank stare.

"Ugh. We've been doing this for an hour, Sam."

"We've only got a week maybe before the baby gets here and we have no names picked out. What about boy's names?"

Jack grinned. "Homer!"

"We are not naming our baby after any of the Simpsons, Jack!"

"Oh come on! It's a good name!"

Sam giggled. She'd been doing a lot of that the last little bit of her pregnancy. Sometimes she would get going and wouldn't be able to stop for an hour. Jack called them her 'giggle fits'.

"What about Adam?"

Jack squinted, like he was thinking about it. "Adam. I like it."

"Adam O'Neill."

"Two L's."

And with that simple statement, Sam was off on another giggle fit.


	26. A New Life

Chapter 26-A New Life

Sam threw off the covers and led out a loud sigh. She was hot and tired and crampy.

"Can't sleep?"

Sam grabbed her stomach. "No. I'm beginning to think that having seconds at dinner was a bad idea."

"Seconds? I thought you had thirds."

Sam hit him.

Jack placed his hand on her belly. The baby instantly moved to where his hand was. From the moment that they could feel the baby, it would do that. Follow his hand. It only seemed to do that for him.

"Are you sure you're not contracting?"

Sam finally started to relax. "Yeah. I've decided that this baby has decided to stay in there permanently."

"Shoulda signed a lease."

Sam laughed. She was two weeks overdue and boy, did she know it. Sam had been anxious about going into labor but at this point, she was so done with being pregnant.

"Your back hurting again?"

"Not too bad."

"Roll on your side. I'll massage it."

Jack had been really good to her while she was pregnant. She knew she'd gotten a little crazy for a while but he took it in stride and well, babied her.

Ugh. The cramping was coming back.

"I think I might run a bath, see if that helps."

Baths had become her best friend. She didn't feel like a 747 while she was in the tub and the warm water relaxed her. Tonight was different. It had helped at first but now she couldn't get comfortable.

Maybe she really was in labor. Sam decided to get out of the tub. Once she got in her nightclothes, she went back into the bedroom.

Sam couldn't help but smile. That man. Jack was asleep, sprawled out over the whole bed. A year of sleeping in the same bed hadn't changed the man's sleeping habits one bit. The second she would get out of bed and its like his limbs would grow an extra foot in all directions.

She whispered for him to scoot over which he did without really waking up.

Once she'd gotten as comfortable as she could, Jack rolled back over, wrapping his arm around her and taking in a deep breath as he laid his head behind her own.

Ow. Cramping again. Okay, yeah, she definitely had to be in labor. Sam knew that it being her first pregnancy, it would take a long time before she would be ready to have the baby so she decided to not wake Jack up. Okay, the pains gone again.

The next contraction started about ten minutes later, from there on getting progressively closer together.

By what she would guess was four in the morning, they were three minutes apart and she couldn't sit still anymore. She started pacing the floor, having to stop and breathe during the contractions.

Jack could hear some kind of air leak. Well, maybe that wasn't it. It sounded more like one of those little puff air freshener things. Those were handy. Feeling for Sam in bed, he couldn't find anything. Opening his eyes, he saw Sam, sitting in the chair, hands on knees, breathing heavily.

"Sam?" "Are you...?"

Her breathing becoming a little more regular, Sam relaxed and nodded her head.

"Well, why the hell didn't you wake me up?"

Getting no response, he continued, "How close are you?"

"The contractions are about every two to three minutes now. But my water hasn't broken yet."

Jack grimaced. He couldn't believe she hadn't woken him up.

"Sorry. I knew this would take a while so I didn't want to wake you."

"Yeah, well next time don't be so thoughtful."

Her face scrunching in pain, she reached for his hand as another contraction started. He was amazed at the control she had. She was in horrendous pain and yet she just sat there with her eyes closed, breathing through it.

After it passed, Jack decided to move her to the bed. While walking there, they heard a definite splash sound and both of them looked at the floor. Sam's water had just broke.

"Go get Nimmeya."

Making sure she was in well in bed and having gotten through the next contraction with her, Jack left for Nimmeya's.

When they came back, Sam was clenching the side of the bed, her head back. She was in full concentration.

"Jack, go get some towels. We'll need to put them underneath her. And get one for the baby too."

Jack ran into the bathroom kind of feeling like a chicken with his head cut off. Their baby was coming. Until that moment, all he'd been thinking about was the fact that Sam was in pain, but now he smiled thinking, this was it. What they'd been waiting for all this time.

"Jack!"

Jack ran back out hearing Sam's voice. She was reaching for him. He knelt beside the bed, holding her hand. She pulled him closer until their foreheads were touching.

"That's it, Sam. Breathe. There ya go. You're doing great."

"She's ready."

Nimmeya pushed Sam's leg's up until they were bent.

Breathily, Sam whispered, "I need to push."

"Go ahead, Sam. Whenever you're ready." Nimmeya was completely calm. Jack wondered how many babies she had delivered.

Sam could not believe the pain. She was trying her best not to show how bad it really hurt. Finally feeling the urge to push, she put her full force into it. Somehow it helped. Maybe it was focusing the pain or actually being able to do something about what was happening to her. Right now she really didn't give a damn; she just knew it was helping.

"That's good, Sam. Now do it again."

Again? Was she crazy? Sam felt like her brain might explode. She could hear Jack coaching her on. Preparing for another push, she squeezed his hand...hard.

"I see a head. Come on, Sam. Keep going. He's almost here."

Sam felt herself stretching and it hurt as bad as it sounded like it would. Giving it everything she had, she bore down again. Finally releasing the breath she was holding, Sam felt a million times better.

Then she heard it, a baby's cry. Relief seemed to radiate throughout her entire body. She'd actually done it.

Jack couldn't believe it. Right in front of him was a wet and goo covered baby, screaming at the top of it's little lungs. It was the most beautiful sight and sound he had ever seen. Jack was laughing and felt tears coming to his eyes.

"Jack..."

Sam. There was the mother of his child. She was sweaty and exhausted but god, she looked beautiful. He kissed her.

"The baby's gorgeous, Sam. You did good, real good."

Sam wiped a tear from his face. In all the years she had known him, she'd never seen him cry.

"Did we have a boy or a girl?"

Jack realized he hadn't even looked. Nimmeya was cleaning the baby off. It was a little girl. Nimmeya wrapped her in a blanket and handed her to Sam.

"She's a girl."

As if knowing that she had found her mother, the baby stopped crying and opened her eyes for the first time.

Sam smiled. Dark chocolate little orbs looked up at her.

"She has her Daddy's eyes."

They sat staring at her for what felt like ages.

"So, what are we gonna call her?"

"Emma. How about Emma?"

Jack looked at his daughter.

"Emma, I like it. It fits. Emma Grace."


	27. Shock Me

Chapter 27-Shock Me

Sam woke to crying. Climbing out of bed, she went to get Emma. Emma didn't cry that often. In fact, she was pretty content with whatever was going on, only crying when she was hungry or she wanted to be changed. But boy when she did cry, she really let loose.

Sam called her a little drama queen. Reaching for her in her crib, Emma was red faced and looked ready to fight. Sam couldn't help but chuckle.

"Okay, Emma O'Neill. I got you."

Taking her back to bed, Emma settled down as soon as she started to feed. Sam loved this time of day. Early in the morning when it was just her and Emma. Jack had stayed awake with her at nights for the first week or so but all Emma ever wanted was to be fed and well, Jack wasn't much help in that department. And now, Sam looked down at her little girl, running her fingers over her little bit of blonde hair.

Sam saw so much of Jack in Emma. He had utterly disagreed. He thought that she looked just like her. Sam looked over at him, sleeping comfortably beside her. He'd been so good with Emma. Was so proud of her. Yep, Sam felt like life couldn't get much more perfect.

Putting Emma back in her crib, Sam ran a bath and got ready to go on her first run, okay maybe walk, since the baby was born.

"Jack."

"Hmm?"

"I'm gonna go for a run so you have Emma, okay?"

"Mmm-hmm. ...Wait, are you sure you should be running already?"

"It's been six weeks. I'll be fine."

"Okay. Take the radio with you."

Sam shook her head. They'd been here for over a year now and anytime she left the village, he still made her carry the radio.

Picking it up, she got a shock. "Ow." Having dropped it on the bed, she picked it up again and got another shock. "Ow! What in the world?!" She left the radio there. That was a little bizarre.

It was good to feel the blood pumping through her veins again. She'd really missed this. It was a great time for her to clear her head and to think. Speaking of which, what was up with that radio? All of the sudden it was like a light went off in her head. Sam looked at her ring. No, could it be that? But if it could do that to the radio, oh my god. Where did Jack say he found that stone?

She took off on a sprint to the lake, having to stop and slow down along the way. It had been a while since she'd worked out and her body was still recovering. Finally on reaching the lake, she searched for a logical location where Jack might have found the stone. There was a small cave on the eastside of the lake. Rushing into it, she stopped, giving her eyes time to adjust. Sure enough, as she went deeper inside, she found bits and pieces of the same stone. If she was right about this, no, she wouldn't even think it. Not until she knew for sure.

Sam took as much as she could find and headed in a direction she hadn't gone in a long time. On seeing it, she was taken back. Seeing the stargate fall, the pouring rain, the hours she had spent trying to fix it. And now it might just be this simple.

After toiling with everything for some time, Sam finally decided she was ready to try it. Deep breath. Sam pressed the first symbol. It lit up. Her insides were jumping up and down but she told herself not to get too excited. It still might not work. Finally, just one button remained. Closing her eyes, Sam pressed the red button.

Hearing a definite swoosh, she opened her eyes. It had worked. It had actually worked. Trying to collect her thoughts, Sam threw a rock through the horizon so that it would shut off. She did not want those blue crystals to be drained of their power.

"Who's Daddy's little girl?" Emma smiled and cooed. "Is that so, huh?"

Sam threw open the door and rushed in.

"Well, somebody had a good run."

"Jack, I did it. I actually did it. I mean, actually, you did it. We've had it this whole time and we didn't even know it."

"Sam, mind filling me in here."

"I got the stargate to work."

Out of all the techno babble she could have said, that was the thing Jack least expected to come out of her mouth.

"What?"

"It was the stone. I went to get the radio this morning and it shocked me. I didn't think too much of it at the time but then it just made sense. It was an electrical shock and then I realized the stone could have...so I went to the lake and that cave was full of them. When I got to the gate, I connected it to the..."

"Sam!"

"Yes?"

"You got the stargate to work?"

She smiled. "Yes, Jack, I did."

Setting Emma down on the bed, he grabbed hold of Sam and hugged her.

"We can go home."


	28. Saying Goodbye

Chapter 28-Saying Goodbye

After the initial shock had worn off, they looked around their home. Home. That's what this had been for them. They had become a part of this village. It wasn't going to be easy to leave. Both Sam and Jack packed up the few things that they had, lost in thoughts of excitement and sadness at the same time.

Having both gotten in their BDU's, they looked at each other. It had been a while since either of them had worn their military garb. Emma started to whine so Jack picked her up.

Looking at Emma and then at Sam, Jack grinned. "We're in for one hell of a long debriefing."

Sam giggled. Ready to go, they took one last look around and stepped outside.

Nimmeya was the first to see them.

"I haven't seen you two wearing those in a long time. What's the occasion?"

Sam winced. She wasn't looking forward to goodbyes. "Nimmeya, we fixed the stargate."

Shock was quickly covered up by sincere happiness. "Sam, I am so happy for you." She reached out and hugged her tightly. Pulling back, she was crying.

"Oh don't mind me. I'll be fine. I'm just going to miss you is all."

Sam started crying too.

"Hey, now that we've fixed it we can come back."

Jack chimed in. "Of course we'll be back. Just next time, no earthquakes."

They all laughed. Jack excused himself as the women continued their goodbyes.

"Hey boys. I'd been looking for ya."

"Hey Jack," they said in unison. "Wanna come swimming with us today?"

"Sorry. I can't."

Taven scrunched up his face. "Why not?"

"Well, Sam and I are going home."

Elo, full of concern, said, "But you are home."

"You're right, Elo. This place has been home..."

"So then why don't you stay???"

"We belong there."

"No, you're wrong. You belong here with us."

"Hey. I'll come back and visit."

"You promise?"

"They couldn't keep me away."

Once Jack and Sam finished their goodbyes, they headed down the path to the stargate.

It had been a year and a half since they had been stranded here. How much things had changed. Jack wondered what things had been like this whole time back at the SGC. Who knows what had been happening there. He couldn't help but get excited thinking about seeing everybody again, getting to kick Gou'o'uld ass, drinking beer. But it would still be weird.

And then they reached the gate. Sam quickly punched in the symbols and pressed the red button. Up went the swoosh, straight into the sky. It was beautiful. Jack looked down at Emma. She didn't even wake up at the sound. Sam had wrapped Emma firmly against him. They were going to have to fall into the stargate and they knew their landing on the other side wasn't going to be pretty so they wanted her to be as protected as possible.

Sam put in SG-1's code on the GDO. She smiled as she realized that General Hammond might be having a heart attack right now.

Jack took her hand. "Let's go home."


	29. Back   Finish

Chapter 29-Back

Climbing the steps, hand in hand, they looked down at the stargate and then at each other.

"Whew," he said, wearing a grin. Holding Emma's head up against his chest, Jack looked at Sam again. "Shall we?"

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"Receiving SG-1's IDC code, sir."

"But SG-1 is on base." General Hammond's eyes went from confused to bulging. "Open that iris...now!"

Running down to the gateroom, he found that Teal'c was not far behind him.

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Well, that was odd. They'd stepped through the gate expecting to land flat on their backs, but instead had landed on their feet.

"Welcome back, people!"

General Hammond was practically glowing he was so excited.

"O'Neill. Major Carter. It is most pleasing to see you both again."

"General! Teal'c! It's good to BE back!"

With that, a baby's cry could be heard. Teal'c and General Hammond were most confused as they had not seen a baby. Jack opened his jacket, revealing an infant that was clearly unhappy.

Jack looked up to see the bewildered face of the General, along with an eyebrow raise from Teal'c.

"What? She's hungry."

Grinning at the still confused expressions of the two men in front of him, Jack continued, "I'd like to introduce you to my wife, Samantha O'Neill, and our daughter, Emma."

The general was speechless. He couldn't be happier for them but it was a shock that they were back, let alone married and with a baby.

Sam bit her lip. "Sir, would you like us to report to the infirmary and debrief in an hour?"

Coming back to his senses, he replied, "Yes, Major. That sounds like a good plan." Looking over them again, he said, "It's damn good to have you both back."

Jack put his arm around his old friend. "Teal'c, how ya been, buddy?"

"I have been well O'Neill. There are many questions that I have regarding you and Major Carter."

"That would be Major O'Neill now actually. ...Just saying."

Teal'c gave his head nod in showing acknowledgement.

Just then, Jonas spotted them coming down the hall and proceded to drop everything he had been holding.

"Jonas! Long time, no see."

His brain seemed to be unable to comprehend what he saw at first. "Major? Colonel?"

Walking up, still not fully believing what he was seeing, Jonas bombarded them with questions. "What happened? How did you get back? We've been trying to reach you every month since you've been gone. What's that?"

Sam laughed as she held up Emma. "Jonas, this is Emma, Jack and I's daughter."

"Wow. Sam, she's beautiful. Can I hold her?"

Finally making there way the rest of the way to the infirmary, they found Doctor Fraiser looking at a chart.

Sam bit her lip. "Janet?"

Janet looked up and immediately dropped the chart she was holding.

Jack looked at Sam. "We seem to be getting that reaction alot today."

Then Janet actually screamed. Not like a blood curdling scream but more of a scream a person gives when they see someone they haven't seen in ages. Which, ya know, was fitting.

The two women hugged, Janet asking a million questions which Sam couldn't even begin to answer as fast as Janet was asking them. The smile on Sam's face couldn't be any wider had she tried and her cheeks physically ached. She had missed Janet terribly.

Finally regaining a little bit of control, Janet saw the baby.

"Jonas, where did you get a baby?"

"She's our's," Jack interrupted.

Janet went through the same reactions as Jonas and they continued throughout the day as various people found out who was back.

And that they were. It was good to be home.


End file.
